How About The Weirdest, Strangest Thing you've Seen/Experienced While Hunting?

Years ago my dad and I were quail hunting. Our dog pointed a covey, and they got up behind us. My dad swung his gun to get a shot at the birds, and as he was turning a quail flew right into his gun barrel, and it fell dead at his feet. He always loved telling that story to people.
 
Idk if this was "weird" or not, just some incredible luck/odds. I shot a pheasant that was flying at me and as it fell it was coming straight at me and I caught it right into my chest haha who needs a dog when you can do that?
 
Idk if this was "weird" or not, just some incredible luck/odds. I shot a pheasant that was flying at me and as it fell it was coming straight at me and I caught it right into my chest haha who needs a dog when you can do that?

I tried catching a duck I shot once when it fell out of the sky. That thing almost broke my arm. Won't do that again, ever.
 
I tried catching a duck I shot once when it fell out of the sky. That thing almost broke my arm. Won't do that again, ever.
Yeah I wouldn't recommend it either haha I could feel the impact when it landed in my arms/chest. Next time I'll just step to the side and let it fall.
 
In my younger days we used to have bets and challenges on approaching these and opening up doors, trunks, etc... Always thought it would be fun to put on headlamps and walk through the bottom photo at night. Too tired from hunting, too scared, or too smart ... never did.

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OK guys. I have had a number of weird experiences over the years, but what I saw during Firearms Deer Season in 2019 is by far the most inexplicable.

If you read read my post on Sweet 16's thread, I described my favorite spot to glass deer during Firearms Season down in the SW corner of ND. This particular hill is a good 1.5 mile walk back in from where I park the truck. The hike in and packing a deer out from that rough country is a ton of work, so I've never seen another hunter back in there.

I go in early enough that I am at my spot and set up a full 2 hours before the first hint of light in the east. There is no cell coverage back in there and it's literally too dark to see your hand in front of your face, so there's not much to pass the time until shooting light but star gaze. I'm here to tell you, the night sky out here is spectacular, BTW.

So I'm sitting there looking at constellations when I see a light coming from the NW to the SE across the sky. It's way up there, probably low-earth orbit altitude, and moving at a steady speed (If you point your arm straight out to the side and move it to the center of your body in a one-one thousand to four or five one thousand count, that's about the pace it was moving). I'm watching this object move across the sky and I'm thinking "satellite, cool". As I'm watching this object move across the sky, it instantly stops and literally rockets off 90 degrees from it's path and disappears to the east in the blink of an eye. It's immediately followed by another light that I didn't see coming across the sky from the west.

The acceleration of these objects was so instantaneous and so fast I could barely follow it with my eyes. I'm a licensed private pilot so know something about aerodynamics. I can say with absolute certainty that if we even have some black project aircraft that could maneuver and accelerate like that (and I don't see how that would be possible), the G's would instantly kill the pilot.

They were too high to see any detail and as I said, until the impossible maneuvering I thought I was looking at a satellite in low-earth orbit. I have no idea what they were...
I've had a very similar experience although not hunting. A group of us were at some railroad tracks in the middle of nowhere one night and saw what I thought was a satellite but it started moving at tremendous speeds. It kept going up and down and left and right making a cross type pattern. Unbelievable acceleration and stopped on a dime. This would have been in the early 2000s and I still haven't been offered an explanation that could explain it. People just assume we made it up.
 
My 870 Remington barrel blew up like an Elmer Fudd barrel in early 80's. This added significant loss to my hearing.
 
Well ... I will make this SFW.

Buddy and I used to hunt birds out in west central ND. We stayed elsewhere, but our travels would bring us to a little town near the Big Lake. We would refuel, get snacks or have a late breakfast in the town.

Over the course of 3 years we would ALWAYS run into an older gentlemen who appearred to seek us out (gas station, cafe, etc) to tell about his ladies that he met during his service in France and what the French girls do ... or his weekly visit to the hospital for sponge baths, which nurse he preferred and why and the like. Yes - there was some pity felt, but he was pretty harmless and very entertaining during our brief encounters.
 
Well ... I will make this SFW.

Buddy and I used to hunt birds out in west central ND. We stayed elsewhere, but our travels would bring us to a little town near the Big Lake. We would refuel, get snacks or have a late breakfast in the town.

Over the course of 3 years we would ALWAYS run into an older gentlemen who appearred to seek us out (gas station, cafe, etc) to tell about his ladies that he met during his service in France and what the French girls do ... or his weekly visit to the hospital for sponge baths, which nurse he preferred and why and the like. Yes - there was some pity felt, but he was pretty harmless and very entertaining during our brief encounters.
We have some weird buckaroos out here in western ND...
 
I thought of another weird thing after Huedes story of his 870 barrel blowing up.

My cousins 870 was giving him some problems one year, he took it apart out in the field to see what the problem was and a tiny retainer spring popped out and landed who knows where. He looked around for about 20 minutes and found the tiny ass spring laying in the grass.
 
I thought of another weird thing after Huedes story of his 870 barrel blowing up.

My cousins 870 was giving him some problems one year, he took it apart out in the field to see what the problem was and a tiny retainer spring popped out and landed who knows where. He looked around for about 20 minutes and found the tiny ass spring laying in the grass.
Yeah I wouldn't recommend it either haha I could feel the impact when it landed in my arms/chest. Next time I'll just step to the side and let it fall.
I knew this guy who got hit hard by a goose.It was a karma payback, because this guy bragged about poaching.This guy also had a heart attack, and a stroke.
 
In the mid 90's my vizsla Lucy and gsp Ethel locked up, then a striped tail went up, they both were close. Not uncommon however this happened again the next weekend, Lucy was so bad she puked a couple times. The smell was haunting us for weeks!
 
This year I shot a bird over a young dog. As he was running to it for the retrieve a coyote ran out from the ditch grabbed the bird and ran off with it.
Twice while field hunting geese in eastern ND, we had coyotes attack goose decoys. Both got loads of steel 2's rather than a goose dinner...
 
About a dozen years ago I was pheasant hunting on private land in the same general area of ND as the story above. I can over a slight ridge to a mowed grassy area next to a cattail filled creek ... only to find my Britt and a coyote squaring off ... they were actually circling about 20 feet apart or so. When the coyote saw me he turned and ran hard.
 
I couldn't get a shot off as the pup was in the way. I believe the yote was hunting birds as we had just flushed a group of 20+ birds not more than 50 yardrs from where he stole the bird.
 
OK, this is an extension of Sweet 16's thread on the coolest thing you've seen while hunting. I'm asking what the weirdest,/strangest thing you've seen or experienced while hunting (any kind of hunting)?

If you've spent any substantial time in the field I'm betting you have seen or experienced something something that defies easy explanation. Myself, I've been hunting since the early 60s and over the years have hunted birds, small game, and big game in numerous states as well as three Canadian provinces. I have my #1 weird experience locked & loaded, but I'll keep everyone in suspense for a couple responses.

Bump's post on Sweet 16's thread about finding frogs sitting on a frozen slough fits nicely into this thread. Now that is truly weird...
Driving up from Pierre to Gettysburg SD on our way to the 10 am hunt kick off just as we turned on to RT 212 we saw a dead deer carcass being devoured by about 10-15 bald eagles
 
I saw a rooster kamikaze a power line once on opening day. One time I was leaving a pasture where I was dove hunting and heard steps. Mr. Bull was about 3 feet from me. I thought I would scare him off by firing my shotgun in the air. Homeboy didn't even blink. So, I leveled the barrel at him and backed my way out.

I don't have any otherworldly encounters, but the coolest thing I ever saw was while out deer hunting. It was around sunrise when four coyotes approached a thicket at the bottom of the ravine. I kid you not, they stealthily fanned out and after creeping close, they rushed in. It was almost in a coordinated fashion. The small pocket of habitat erupted with pheasants and one of the yotes came out with a rooster in his mouth. Some genuine Mutual of Omaha stuff. Very fascinating to be witness.
 
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